Availability of Emergency Contraceptive Pills at University and College Student Health Centers

Abstract

The author used the stages of change model to determine how ready student health centers at surveyed universities and colleges were to make emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) available to students. Of the 358 centers that responded. 52.2% offered ECPs and 47.8% did not. The benefits of offering ECPs were listed as pregnancy prevention, the opportunity to introduce students to traditional contraception methods, and students' appreciation. Barriers to offering ECPs included institutions' religious affiliations, clinic and administrative staff objections, inability to prescribe or dispense medications, fear of liability, concern that ECPs would undermine students' use of traditional contraception methods, and no expressed need. Whether ECPs were available was associated with demographic characteristics of the institutions that responded, including geographic region, type of institution, size of student population, and students' status as commuter or on-campus residents.